


Another Time, Another Place

by yoobyooti



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, wholesome family au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-06-06 15:06:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15197384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yoobyooti/pseuds/yoobyooti
Summary: A certain android detective prototype is sent to team up with an experienced detective for a trial run at the DPD. Working around the schedule of a single father who was never an enthusiastic adopter of android technology ends up being more difficult than anticipated.





	1. Chapter 1

_Monday, 9 April 2035_

“Yes, it’s a prototype, but it’s still a state of the art android.”

Connor couldn’t hear them, but he could read Captain Fowler’s lips through the glass walls of his office. He considered bringing up this flaw in confidentiality and security, but felt he didn’t have enough of the facts, or the social capital, to be making recommendations just yet.

“If they’re going to make detective androids, then obviously the most natural place to test them is in Detroit’s very own police department.”

“I’m still not happy with this,” Lieutenant Anderson replied from where he was hunched over in his seat. “Androids are just… _creepy_. It’s why I don’t have one in my home. And what, now I’ve got to provide accommodation for this one in case we get called out in the middle of the night? What if it glitches out scares my kid or something?”

Captain Fowler sighed and gave Lieutenant Anderson a particular look.

“These things have been in people’s homes for years now with no major incidents. I think they have domestic work and childcare down pat. It’s a prototype in the sense it has hardware and software specifically to make investigations run more smoothly, not because it can’t perform basic functions. This is the Ferrari of androids, if you will.”

Fowler paused pointedly and shifted his weight before continuing.

“Maybe if you weren’t so paranoid you wouldn’t have to worry about harassing your babysitter, or the old lady who lives next door to you, at every hour of the day when you get called in.”

“Hey, that kid needs the money to get through college. And Mrs Robertson loves the company,” the lieutenant defended himself.

Connor processed his response and prepared to do his best to make a good first impression and address any of Lieutenant Anderson’s misgivings. Connor returned his attention to his visual input when the Captain spoke again.

“The initial trial period is only two months. If you hate it that much by the end of that time, you can return it to be reworked again and I’ll find another ‘volunteer’ to continue the trial. But I am expecting you to give this a fair go and provide them with useful feedback.”

Anderson huffed and folded his arms. “Fine, but it’s going to drive me nutty if it keeps staring like that the whole time.” He turned to look directly at Connor with a deep frown.

Connor ran through a few potential scenarios in a fraction of a second, then decided to go with acknowledging the comment and looking contrite for being caught out.

“And apparently it can either hear us or lip read,” he added, still looking unhappy.

Fowler rolled his eyes. “It’s designed to collect information. And now it knows you’re an asshole, so I guess that’s something. I expect you to take it home with you and learn how the two of you can work together before you get called out to another case.”

Lieutenant Anderson looked down at the watch on his wrist and seemed to give up. “Fine, I don’t have time to argue about this anymore. I need to pick Cole up from school. Unless something happens, I’ll work from home for the rest of the afternoon.”

Connor straightened when the lieutenant opened the office door. He shoved his hands in his pockets and moved down stairs as he muttered something under his breath.

He approached his desk, which was where Connor had been standing while he waited. He seemed to be avoiding looking at Connor, but Connor didn’t let that stop him. Things would probably only get more awkward otherwise.

“Good afternoon Lieutenant Anderson, my name is Connor. I’m the android—”

“I know,” he replied shortly. He unlocked the cabinet next to his desk and pulled out a tablet computer. He made a flicking motion at the screen of his desktop computer so that the windows and programs he had open would be transferred across. “I need to go pick up my son.”

“So I’ve heard,” Connor replied.

The lieutenant gave a double take, clearly not having expected Connor to give what he got. “Oh great, is being a smartass one of your features too?”

“The engineering team working on me prefers to call it Socialisation, but I suppose that description can also work.” Connor held out a hand, intending to show he wanted to finish greeting him and that he hoped they could get along.

The lieutenant shook his head, but his hand came forward a short time after. He frowned down at Connor’s hand as they gripped one another.

“God, they didn’t graft real skin onto you, did they?”

“I should hope not, but you’d need to ask my engineering team to be sure,” Connor teased lightly.

Lieutenant Anderson scoffed and tucked the tablet under his arm. “Let’s go already, school would have finished by now.”

Connor followed him out of the office and into the parking lot. When they reached the lieutenant’s car he scanned it, and soon realised it had no autonomous functions whatsoever, and the only electronics other than the lights and other essentials seemed to be the tape and CD players. He didn’t really want to know how old it was, but decided it would be inappropriate to comment or look under the hood at this juncture.

Lieutenant Anderson opened the back door on the driver’s side and began moving things from the passenger seat and the back seat onto the floor. It seemed he was very used to only having one passenger.

Once he was satisfied with the arrangement of his various objects, the lieutenant dropped into the driver’s seat and Connor opened the passenger door. He sat on the old leather seat and heard it creak under his weight. He had to slam the door to get it to close properly, though the lieutenant didn’t seem fazed, indicating this was normal.

However, when the car started up, it sounded like it was running well enough. The inner workings seemed to be safer and better maintained than the outside.

Once he’d pulled out onto the road, the lieutenant turned a volume knob down then punched play on the CD player. A soft rock number from a few decades ago came on, and he tapped the steering wheel as he waited at the traffic lights.

“So, Lieutenant, what are you working on at the moment?”

He got an odd look in return, as though he hadn’t expected Connor to try and make conversation. “Reducing the amount of red ice on the streets. I’m not particularly popular with petty crime rings at the moment, but it seems closing them out from the market is only drawing the attention of bigger players. Probably the first thing I should get you to do is examine the data for patterns I might’ve overlooked.”

Connor turned to look at the tablet computer on the back seat of the car. He went to reach for it, but the lieutenant grabbed his wrist. “Wait a minute, are you allowed to look at sensitive data?”

“CyberLife has a non-disclosure agreement with all the government agencies it works with. I wouldn’t be much use if I couldn’t analyse sensitive or confidential data. You should have received an email with a copy of the contract when you were nominated to be part of the trial,” Connor explained, trying to be helpful. It seemed he hadn’t quite come across that way, though.

Lieutenant Anderson grumbled as the light finally turned green and they could really get on their way. He let go of Connor so he could change gears, and Connor took that as permission to pick up the computer and interface with it.

“There’s some sort of non-disclosure for our personal information as well, right? There’s a reason I haven’t had an android up until now.”

“Of course. If it makes you feel any better, the data I gather is separate from the usual CyberLife databanks. It makes it easier for my engineering team to troubleshoot any problems that may arise, so they should be able to easily locate and delete anything you want removed after the trial.”

He gave a noncommittal grunt in response, but Connor’s processors had already switched over to prioritising his analysis of the data on the device in his lap. It took some time to download the complete data set, since he was relying on the device’s wireless transmission rather than his own hardware, but as soon as it was done he was able to put his impressive computing power to work.

“After correlating the identities of the people you’ve identified as definitely being involved with data taken from various social media sites, I can see there are a number of people who may be worth looking into further.”

“Mmkay, a bit spooky that you managed to work that out in under five minutes,” the lieutenant replied as he pulled up on the side of the road near the local public primary school. “But we can check the usefulness of your information when we get home.” He pulled up the parking brake and switched off the engine before opening the door. “Make sure no one steals the car or makes off with you or the laptop. I’ll be back soon,” he added before slamming the door.

Connor watched him saunter across the grassy school front as he made his way toward what appeared to be the lower school classrooms. Connor turned his attention back to the tablet and started diving into other files he had access to, looking for data to feed his algorithms in an attempt to narrow down his results to something more useful.

After no immediate success, Connor looked up when he saw the lieutenant was already on his way back. He was holding his son’s hand and smiling down at him as he listened to Cole speak. The boy was wearing a backpack that seemed to be almost as large as he was. After comparing his size and features to the current averages in the US, Connor determined the boy was five or six years old.

Connor turned his attention back to Lieutenant Anderson. It was the first time Connor had seen him smile since he’d been taken on a tour of the office that morning and he’d spied him with his coffee. He looked away from them, not seeing any sense or requirement in lip reading when Lieutenant Anderson had already expressed his discomfort with his ability to do so.

Cole reached out with both hands to tug the back door open, and Lieutenant Anderson bent over to help pull down the stiff seatbelt. Cole clicked it in place, then leaned either side in an attempt to see around the seat, clearly curious. Connor turned around and smiled at the boy.

“Hi, my name’s Cole,” he said quietly.

He seemed reserved, but it also looked like he could barely contain his excitement. Clearly the lieutenant’s comments to Captain Fowler about him being afraid of androids had just been an excuse. After all, there were android TAs in schools, and it was likely most of the other children lived in households that had one to help with domestic chores, tutoring and home security.

“Hello Cole, my name is Connor. How was your day at school?”

Lieutenant Anderson closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side. He opened the door and ducked low to climb inside the car again.

Cole shrugged and looked out the window as the car started up and moved off again. “Ok.”

“Did you learn anything new?”

A thoughtful look crossed Cole’s face. “That I’m bad at writing.”

“It’s still not good enough for that old bat?” Lieutenant Anderson asked sympathetically. “As long as you can read your own handwriting, that’s all that matters these days. But I can ask Cindy to help you practice next time she babysits you?”

Cole shrugged and continued to stare out the window. “Yeah…”

Connor turned to look over his shoulder, though with the car in motion he only turned far enough that he was facing the lieutenant. He averted his gaze to make it clear he was addressing Cole. “That is something I could help with as well.”

Lieutenant Anderson gave him an appraising look as they rolled to a stop at another intersection. “At the rate you’re going, we’ll have another lead by the time we get home. Guess you may as well do other stuff too.”

Connor nodded and Lieutenant Anderson turned his attention back to the road. He looked somewhat reserved, or possibly guilty. It was difficult for Connor’s programs to compare his features when he wasn’t facing him directly. Perhaps it was possible Cole was behind on more than just his handwriting abilities. If that was true, it would probably be because he didn’t have a full time personal tutor like the other children.

“Cole…” Lieutenant Anderson began again. “You know you just need to do your best, right? You were born late in the year. You’re only five years old. It’s ok to take your time.”

“ _Only_ five?” Cole asked indignantly. “I’ll be six soon!”

The lieutenant smiled and glanced up at the rear view mirror. “There’s still half a year until your next birthday, mister,” he teased.

“You said you’re nearly fifty! But! Your birthday’s only two weeks before my one!”

“Five months isn’t very long when you’re fifty. It seems like forever when you’re five,” he countered.

“That’s dumb!” Cole proclaimed.

Lieutenant Anderson just shook his head as he pulled up in what was presumably his driveway. When he started to climb out, Connor moved as well. Cole stubbornly stayed where he was.

The lieutenant moved around to Cole’s door and opened it up. “I’m just teasing, Cole. Show me you’re a big boy. Take off your seatbelt and let’s head inside.”

Cole narrowed his eyes at his father. He seemed familiar with the reverse psychology approach even if he didn’t have words for it. “I’m too big for that now.”

“For what, going inside?” he asked, faking obliviousness.

Cole let out a small sound of amusement but tried to maintain a stoic expression. “No!” He took off his seatbelt and grabbed his backpack before sliding out of the car. As Cole trotted toward the front door, the lieutenant gave Connor a certain look.

Connor wasn’t able to determine he was seeking an empathetic response, something along the lines of a silent ‘kids, huh?’, until it was too late to return it. He frowned and brought a hand to his forehead as he walked past Connor.

“Let me guess, Cole… Right now you’re… hungry?” he asked as he unlocked the door and let Cole inside first.

“Duh!” Cole called as he rushed to his room to dump his bag.

After following him inside, Connor turned to Lieutenant Anderson. “I believe I have narrowed the list of people with possible involvement down to just two—”

“Unless it’s urgent, I don’t care until after six,” he responded flatly before moving into the kitchen and pulling some food out of the fridge.

Perhaps irritation wasn’t quite the right word, but Connor couldn’t help but want to treat this with urgency when it was his only current objective. He moved to sit on the edge of the couch, since it occurred to him that the lieutenant may not appreciate him standing in the middle of the house silently. He began to search for potential open sources of relevant intelligence.

Tomorrow they would progress the case and Connor would prove his usefulness to the police force. That was his underlying directive, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly the most painful part of writing this was figuring out how the heck the US school year works, and whether it makes sense for Cole to even be at school on 9 April 2035. In Australia we just start in Feb/March and finish in December, since the seasons are obviously opposite here. Oh well, whatever, it's the future! :P
> 
> I'm not sure how much of this fic I'll write since I'm currently working on an original novel with a very similar premise. But I neeeeded to write at least this much for DBH! Hope you enjoyed it! :)


	2. Chapter 2

_Monday Night_

Hank pulled celery, carrot and cheese out of the fridge, then grabbed the peanut butter from the cupboard. As he went over to the bench to start washing and cutting up the veggies, he noticed the android was now sitting stiffly on the couch and continuing to work. Hank raised his brows but simply turned his attention to making the snack for his son.

Cole returned to the living room now that he’d changed out of his school clothes. Cole reached up and pushed an exercise book and the small yet sturdy student tablet computer on the table. Next, he managed to manoeuvre himself onto one of the kitchen chairs.

Once Hank had the peanut butter on the celery and the cheese near the carrot – Cole hadn’t been very impressed the one time he’d pranked him and done it the other way around – Hank pulled two of the meals he’d prepared on the weekend out of the freezer. It was unlikely they’d defrost much in the next hour or so, but they were going to end up in the microwave one way or another anyway.

Hank brought the plate over and put it down before he sat next to Cole. “Thanks Dad!”

Hank smiled and leaned his elbow against the back of Cole’s chair. “Apart from the writing thing, was there anything else you we should look at today?”

“Yeah, Miss Jenny said I have to speak French more. To practice.”

Jenny was the collective name of the TA androids at the school. Hank rubbed the back of his head and grimaced. Of course it made sense for the kids to learn other languages, especially when they lived right on the border, but it hadn’t exactly been an education requirement when he’d gone through school. He was sure Cole already knew more French than he ever had. But with the vast improvements in translating and interpreting software, the world was moving away from English being the common language. It was difficult to pursue an intellectual career if you had to rely on that software, though.

“She gave me a video,” Cole continued as he moved the cover off the screen and woke it up.

“Ok, let’s give it a watch,” Hank tried to encourage him.

He knew Cole’s human teacher thought he was just an old man who refused to adopt new technology, but that wasn’t the case at all. It was what he did know about technology, that others either didn’t or were happy to ignore, that made him wary of bringing something like an android into his own home. He did work closely with a digital forensics team on most cases, these days. Criminals had adopted computers and technology as quickly as any other industry.

So he knew that it was really only a matter of time before someone figured out how to hack these things and all hell broke loose. Either that, or someone was already using them to quietly collect information on the entire population. Whether it was corporations trying to sell more or governments trying to surveil more, it made him uncomfortable either way. There was a reason no other country had embraced the technology yet, after all.

Hank turned his attention to the video, which had already played halfway through. They’d already moved beyond ‘bonjour’ and ‘je m’appelle’, so he wasn’t exactly sure what was going on now. Cole looked up at him and shrugged slightly.

Hank reached out to pause the video. “Well, what are you supposed to be able to do by the end of this year? Count to ten and learn your colours?” Surely expecting kids his age to speak well in another language just from taking school lessons was a bit much when he was still learning how to string complex English sentences together.

Cole shook his head. “I have to say who I am. And I have to know what another person is saying.” He paused with a thoughtful look on his face. “We have to use those words when we talk. That’s what Mrs Mason gives marks for.”

Well, if his child had already figured out he had to perform according to the syllabus, they couldn’t tell him he wasn’t smart. Hank smiled again. “You know, it takes some kids their whole schooling lives to figure that out. It’s the same for any subject, really. Show them you know what you have to know.”

“But I don’t know what’s wrong. Miss Jenny said my ‘speech isn’t fluent’.”

Hank bit his lip, but he knew tone, pacing and whatever else made up fluency could only really be developed through participating in actual conversations. It was hard enough managing their schedules as it was, but maybe he’d have to find someone Cole could speak with once or twice a week as well. Hank didn’t want Cole to be behind because _he_ didn’t think the benefits of technology outweighed the costs.

“Cindy is more into math than languages, but maybe she knows someone who can…?”

Hank trailed off when Cole turned his attention on some point to his right. “Connor, parlez-vous français?”

Hank looked back at the couch just as Connor turned around. “Oui,” he began, then asked Cole something Hank couldn’t catch.

Connor stood and moved toward the table so they wouldn’t have to call at each other across the room. Hank noticed that even as they spoke, Connor’s hand remained on the laptop, glowing blue with the skin peeled back. If he could work and hold a basic conversation at the same time, then he may as well let them go for it.

Hank stood and patted Cole’s shoulder lightly to get his attention. “I’m going to get changed so we can go to the park before it gets too dark and cold. Let me know when you’re ready to go.”

Cole nodded and picked up his school computer again, probably to show Connor the video. Hank took a few detours on the way to his room to tidy things up, and then put on a load of washing. It was a combination washer-dryer, so it’d all be washed and dried by the time they got home.

Now _this_ was the kind of technology he was happy to embrace.

When Hank turned back to the hallway, he was surprised to see Cole was waiting to say something already. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He gave a little laugh before straightening up again. “Connor said there’s only one and a half hours until six. He said we can speak and walk to the park.”

Hank sighed and rubbed his forehead again. He might have said they’d continue working after six, but in reality he didn’t usually get a chance to do anything until he’d finished putting Cole to bed at around eight. Then he usually showered and sat in bed to work until everything vital was done, before starting all over again the next day.

“What would we do without the efficiencies of technology, hmm?” Cole didn’t seem to know what to make of his tone, so Hank just lay a hand on his head. “Go find your shoes and jacket and we’ll head off.”

“Ok!” Cole agreed as he headed into his room.

Hank went to grab another jacket for himself, knowing they’d need it by the time they headed home. He grabbed the backpack he normally took on their outings, since over the years it had gathered everything from hand sanitiser to bandaids, and went to grab a water bottle and a juice box from the fridge.

When he returned to the living room, Cole was sitting on the small stool in the doorway. They’d had the tiny furniture since he’d been very young, about the time they moved in here after his mother left. He pulled on his small sneakers, but hesitated to try and do up the laces.

“Why don’t you try to do them up again today, Cole?” Hank encouraged.

He knelt down in front of Cole as his son lifted a foot and balanced his heel on the edge of the stool. Cole rested his chin against his knee as he stared down at his foot with great concentration. He crossed the laces and tied the first knot, but then hesitated.

“Remember, you have to make the tree so the rabbit can run around it.”

Cole stuck out his tongue as he tried to both remember what he had to do and coordinate both of his hands. In the end the knot was a little too loose to actually keep his shoe on for long, but other than that, he’d gotten the rest of it right.

“Great job!” Hank praised. “Can you try to do it a little tighter on the other shoe?”

Cole nodded and soon succeeded in doing the other shoe up properly. “I did it!” he cheered.

“I knew you could!” Hank replied with a smile. He gave Cole’s upper arms a quick squeeze before getting back to his feet. Hank winced as a brief but intense pain shot through his right knee. “Jeez I’m getting old,” he muttered, and Cole’s expression turned from concern to amusement.

He turned to find Connor staring at his knees with some intensity. Hank rolled his eyes and walked carefully until the stiffness went away again. “I need to lock that away, then we can leave,” he said, holding his hand out for the computer.

“Are you sure you’re all right, Lieutenant Anderson?” he asked as he handed over Hank’s work computer.

Connor followed him as he went back to his room and punched in the code to the cabinet that held his firearms and other sensitive material. Hank unlocked a draw at the bottom and put the computer in it after checking the Wi-Fi LED was definitely off.

“I only answer to ‘lieutenant’ at the office and on official business.” He closed and locked the safe again.

“Hank, then?”

“It’ll do, I guess,” Hank answered a mite sarcastically. His demeanour changed as he approached Cole again. “All right, ready to go for a walk? What are you not going to do today?”

Cole looked away and fiddled with the hem of his jacket. “Cross the road by myself?”

Hank bent over and cupped his ear with his hand. “I think I misunderstood. I thought you said the problem wasn’t that you didn’t look both ways before crossing?”

Cole wiggled, his discomfort clear. Hank backed off since he’d obviously made his point. “I’ll be more careful!”

“Good. Cars can be dangerous. Things can go wrong whether there’s a person or a program behind the wheel. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you, ok?”

“Ok…” Cole mumbled.

Hank held the door open and patted Cole’s shoulder as he passed. He waited for Connor to follow them outside, who nodded as he passed him. By the time he’d locked the door and joined them on the footpath, the two of them were already talking about something in French.

Since the path wasn’t that wide, Hank hung back slightly and watched Cole as he interacted with the android. He looked happy, and Connor at least sounded like he was being kind and helpful every time he tripped over a word or phrasing. Hank could see them getting too used to having something like Connor around, and that worried him. But it wasn’t like it made sense for him to tell Cole off for interacting with him when he was already there.

The park was only a few blocks away, so it wasn’t long before Cole abandoned the conversation in favour of the monkey bars. He scrambled up the ladder, but was still too short to reach the bars overhead. Hank carefully grabbed the back of his knees and lifted him the remaining inches.

“I wanna go by myself,” Cole said as he got a good grip on the bar above.

Hank nodded and let go, taking half a step back. He tried not to look too nervous for him, since Hank wanted him to have some independence. Still, he kept a close eye on Cole, ready to jump in and catch him if it looked like he was going to falter.

Cole managed to make it across six rungs before he lost his momentum and got stuck. “Good job!” Hank praised as he reached up to grab him again.

“I want to go all the way.”

“I’m sure you will,” Hank replied as he shifted his grip to make his son’s balance more stable in his arms. “It’s ok to have a rest halfway.”

In their awkward position, Cole wrapped his arms around Hank’s head as he tried to balance. “Can you put me on top of the bars so I can see from up there?”

Hank was tall, but the monkey bars were ancient, and so, even taller. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I can’t reach that far very easily,” he explained.

They both turned to look behind them when they heard the bars make a faint vibrating noise. Hank watched Connor climb the ladder with a raised brow, and then his eyes widened as the android pulled himself up to crouch on top of the bars. The way his arms could easily lift his own body weight was, of course, completely unnatural.

“Oh great, so you’re a ninja now, too?”

Connor gave him a patient smile. “I can show Cole what it’s like up here. We won’t fall.”

Hank couldn’t help but wonder how true that was. Connor would likely give him a probability if he asked for it. Cole was already reaching up for him, though, a habit he’d kept from back when he’d known he wanted to be held but hadn’t yet had the words to ask.

“All right, be careful,” Hank relented as he carefully lifted his son again. Connor held him safely under the arms, and lifted Cole straight upward, helping him onto his shoulders as he went.

Once Cole had settled, he looked around the park, seemingly impressed by his new vantage point. Cole glanced down at Hank and then giggled. “Now I’m bigger than you!”

Connor smiled and looked up at Cole as best he could in the position. “Hold onto my hands,” he prompted. Once Cole had done so, Connor was able to encourage him to keep his weight pressing forward. “Should I stand up so we can be even taller?”

Hank noticed him grip Connor’s hands more tightly, but eventually he agreed. “Ok, don’t stand too fast…”

Connor complied with his request, and Cole looked around in wonder at his surroundings. “Look Dad! We’re so high up!”

He saw Connor was fully stabilised even with Cole wriggling around, so he finally let himself relax. Hank smiled up at Cole and put his hands in his pockets. “What can you see from up there?”

“Everything!” he replied happily. He looked down at Hank, and the reality of what it meant to be that high up seem to hit him. “But… I think we should get down now,” he added quietly, still trying to put on a brave face.

“I brought a ball, do you want to play with that instead?” Hank asked.

Cole nodded as Connor took hold of his waist and moved him into a better carrying position. “I’m going to jump back down now. Are you ready?”

Cole wrapped his arms around his neck and nodded into his shoulder.

“Ok, here we go.” Connor dropped down, landing low in a crouch before letting Cole get back on the ground. Hank supposed an android didn’t have to worry about destroying its knees. At least, it wouldn’t be his problem if he did.

Cole trotted over as Hank took off his backpack and extracted the plastic ball. It was a good size for Cole to handle easily. It was good for kicking or throwing, or whatever else Cole came up with.

Cole immediately took the ball off him and backed up a few steps before throwing it. Stretching to reach for his more wild and erratic throws kept Hank in shape too, he was sure.

“So,” Hank began after rolling the ball along the ground toward his son. “Did you learn anything about Connor when you spoke in French?”

“Oh! Yeah, um… He’s thirty. Well, that’s not what he said, but…”

“I said I was modelled after a thirty-year-old,” Connor explained, since it was unlikely Cole would know how to explain that even in English.

“Ah, ok. Interesting. What else?” Hank encouraged as he gently kicked the ball back. Maybe practicing speaking with an android detective had problems of its own after all.

“Um, he’s a… a prototype. So he doesn’t have a model number. Though the scientists call him RK750.” Cole stopped the ball with a clumsy step, but it bounced off his foot so he had to chase it a small way. “Also, his favourite colour is blue.”

Well, that was something that sounded more like it belonged in a normal conversation. But it was a bit odd considering everything else had unabashedly been from an android’s point of view. “Favourite colour?” Hank asked, looking to Connor for clarity.

Connor shrugged and stepped a little closer again. Cole threw the ball to him once he’d picked it up. “Well, the question was specifically in the syllabus. Blue is associated with all my systems running smoothly, so if I had to identify anything…”

Hank blinked slowly, and nearly missed catching the ball even though Connor had thrown it directly at his hands. “I… guess that makes sense,” he replied before gently passing the ball to Cole so it wouldn’t rebound off him quite so far.

Hank checked his watch and realised they’d have to leave soon so they could have dinner. Then it would be bath time, story time, and finally bedtime. From the sound of it, Connor had plenty of work lined up for them over the next few days, as well, so he’d need to check the veracity of the leads he’d apparently identified.

“Time to head home,” Hank announced as Cole passed the ball to Connor.

Cole made a sound of complaint, as usual. Connor neatly tucked the ball under his arm and turned toward Hank.

Hank took the bag off his shoulders again and held it open. “Come on, don’t you think dinner is worth it?” he tried to entice him in the usual way.

“No,” Cole complained even as he took Hank’s hand.

Hank just shook his head as they began to make their way back home. Most people were starting to come home from work now, so the road was a little busier. But thankfully Cole was obediently sticking by his side today. Hank glanced back to see Connor was following them, and then they continued on their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the positive feedback on this so far! This story is nearly 6000 words long already and we're still only on day one. Oh boy!


	3. Chapter 3

_Dinner Time_

Cole didn’t understand why Dad always had to put peas and beans in everything. He didn’t like them that much. But whenever he complained, his dad just looked at him tiredly.

Cole could tell his dad didn’t like waiting so long for him to finish his dinner. On school days they had a routine they usually stuck to closely. He knew Dad had to keep working after he went to bed, so he could understand why. That didn’t make it easier to eat faster, though.

“Eat your greens please, Cole,” Dad said as he rubbed his eyes.

Cole brought another green bean to his mouth and chewed on it. He glanced at Connor where he was sitting at the table politely waiting. Dad had explained that Connor was here to help him with police work. But Cole was happy Connor helped him with things too.

“You have to eat all your dinner if you want to grow as tall as your father,” Connor said with a small smile when he noticed Cole looking at him.

“I’m trying,” he complained. “There’s just so much!”

Dad stood and sighed softly. “Ok, ok, I won’t rush you. I’m going to start the dishes then run your bath. Try to eat as much as you can by then.”

Cole nodded his agreement as Dad picked up his own dishes and moved into the kitchen. Cole got another bean on his fork and brought it to his mouth. He watched Connor sit up a little straighter as his eyes stayed on his dad, but the light on his head stayed blue.

“Connor, how long are you staying for?”

The light turned yellow for a moment while Connor thought. “The initial trial goes for two months. After that it depends how many things my team wants to change, and on your father’s feedback, as to whether the trial will continue after that.”

Cole continued to try and eat as he thought about that. “Do you want to stay longer?”

This time Connor’s light flashed rapidly as it turned yellow. Cole guessed that meant he didn’t really know how to answer the question. “If staying ends up being beneficial to my development, then I will do so.”

Cole hummed in response, since his mouth was full. He knew that if he’d asked another android that, they would have told him they wanted to stay to make him feel better. Connor’s honesty with stuff like that was different. And interesting. But his dad wasn’t used to talking to androids, so Cole wondered if he even noticed Connor wasn’t exactly like the others. Maybe this was part of being a prototype.

“Do you have to take baths too?”

Connor shook his head. “Not unless something happens to make me dirty. I don’t sweat like you, and things tend to be easier to wipe off.”

Dad came back into the kitchen and had a look at his plate. “There we go, that’s much better. When you’re done, empty your plate and put it in the dishwasher. I’ll start running the bath, so come to the bathroom after, ok?”

Cole nodded and put some peas in his mouth. Only a few peas and beans were left. His dad walked away and Cole turned back to Connor. “How do you help Dad with his job?”

“I intake very large amounts of data that may or may not have an obvious link to the case. I run tests on it to see if there are any patterns. On the field I run forensic tests on objects to try and piece events together.”

Cole didn’t understand every word in Connor’s answer, but he got the gist. He ate the last of his dinner and let out a long breath. He felt so full.

Cole picked up his plate and fork and slid out of his chair. There wasn’t anything to put in the bin, so he just put the plate and fork near where Dad had put his. As Cole passed back through the kitchen on his way to the bathroom he saw Connor stand and push their chairs in.

When Cole entered the bathroom he saw his dad had gotten changed into what he called his ‘slob clothes’. When he didn’t change before bath time he usually complained about his jacket getting wet. Cole was glad to see the bath was already nearly filled up as much as it normally was.

As Cole approached the bath and began getting undressed, Dad went over to the door. “Go entertain yourself for another hour, then we’ll talk about work.”

Connor said something in reply, but Cole couldn’t hear what it was over the water. He couldn’t see him either, with the way his dad was blocking the doorway.

“If you want to be helpful, you can put the dishes on or fold the washing or something.” Another pause. “I’m not worried about what you’d see. More what a CyberLife employee might do with what you see.”

His dad closed the door firmly and locked it. He didn’t look very happy, but his expression changed as he turned back to Cole. His dad came over to the bath and put his hand in the water to check the temperature. It seemed to be ok since he turned the tap off a moment later.

Cole grabbed a washcloth from the draw under the sink before climbing into the bath and sitting down. He put the cloth underwater. Dad reached out to grab the soap and a container off the edge of the bath. Cole squeezed out the cloth and held it out so his dad could put the soap on it.

“I’m going to wet your hair now. Close your eyes.”

Cole did so and hunched over as the water passed over his head. He shook his head, causing water droplets to spray across Dad’s shirt. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“Lucky I remembered to get changed today, huh? Once more before I put the shampoo in, ok?”

Cole put the soap back on its shelf on the edge of the bath before squeezing his eyes shut again. Water passed over his head again. Cole blinked rapidly then opened his eyes. While his dad reached for the bottle of shampoo, he began washing his arms with the soapy cloth.

Cole spoke quietly to make sure Connor wouldn’t hear him. “Dad, you don’t like Connor much, do you?”

Dad raised an eyebrow as he rubbed a blob of shampoo between his hands. “I don’t like androids in general, Cole. You know that.”

Cole closed his eyes as his dad began rubbing the shampoo into his hair. “Connor isn’t like other androids.”

“I know, it’s because he’s a prototype. A new model made for a different job than the others. He still comes from the same company, though,” he reminded. “He’s still just a computer in the shape of a person.”

“What happens when computers get smarter than people?”

His dad was quiet for a while. He took the cloth from Cole’s hand and indicated he should raise his arms so he could clean his armpits and back. “They already are smarter than us. That’s the problem.” His dad filled the container with water again. “I mean… There’s smart as in being able to do stuff. Then there’s smart as in being able to come up with new ideas, plan things long term, determine your own goals and all that. Androids can do a lot of stuff, but they can’t decide what they want based on how they feel inside like people. People write their programs to make them do things.”

“Cindy told me that not all programs are written by people. Some computers can change their own programs based on information they learn.” Cole washed all the soap off his hands then covered his eyes as Dad poured water over his head again, this time to rinse out the soap. “Do you think that’s how Connor works?”

His dad didn’t reply for a long time, and Cole felt the water on his head again. “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him. But remember, humans are still the ones who set up the self-learning functions.”

Cole stayed quiet as he scrubbed behind his ears and finished washing himself. When he was done he stepped out onto the bath mat. Dad grabbed the towel and Cole stiffened as he began rubbing his short hair dry. After that he let Cole finish drying himself and put the stool in front of the sink so Cole could see and reach while he brushed his teeth.

Dad came back with his PJs and Cole quickly got changed. He and his dad both brushed their teeth.

“All right, go pick out a story we can read before you go to bed.”

By the time his dad had come into his room, Cole was holding onto one of his favourite picture books. His dad laughed a little bit when he saw the cover.

“Green Eggs and Ham again?” He lay on the bed in a half-sitting position next to Cole. Cole found it funny that his dad’s feet still stuck out off the end of his bed. “What do you like about this book?”

“Sometimes I feel like Sam-I-Am.”

His dad raised an eyebrow at him again. “Why?”

Cole rolled side to side a little on his back while he thought about how to answer that. “Maybe… Connor is the green eggs and ham this time?”

His dad sighed and shook his head. “If you ate an egg or any kind of meat that was green in real life, it’d make you very sick.” Cole covered his mouth with both hands as he laughed. “But if that’s the case, then you can read Sam’s parts.”

“Ok!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hank: “I’m definitely too sober to be having this conversation.”


	4. Chapter 4

_Still Monday Night_

Hank let the book fall shut as he finished the last line of the story. He wasn’t sure if Cole’s reading was improving or if he just had the bloody thing memorised.

“All right, now it’s time for you to go to sleep,” Hank said, hoping to avoid Cole trying to wheedle another story out of him. But it seemed he was too tired to do that, for once.

“Yeah,” Cole agreed as he tried to wiggle further under the bedcovers.

Hank got off the bed so he could help tuck him in. “Good night, Cole.”

“Good night, Dad,” he replied, his small hands twisting into the covers.

Hank leaned down to leave a kiss on his hairline. “Sleep well. I love you.”

“Love you too,” he replied softy, voice muffled by the blanket he’d pulled up to cover the bottom half of his face.

Hank smiled and patted his shoulder through the blankets before standing and making his way to the door. He turned out the light and closed it most of the way. This would reduce how much light spilled into Cole’s room while Hank continued to work, while also preventing Cole from feeling he was cut off from the rest of the house.

Hank took a quick shower, then got changed back into his slob clothes. As he crossed the hallway to his room, he looked toward the living room where he could see the couch. Connor was sitting in the same place again with his hands folded in his lap over the computer. Hank rolled his eyes and approached. He wasn’t going to get any work done without it.

One of Connor’s many sensors seemed to notice his approach. He opened his eyes and looked up at Hank before moving into a standing position.

“All right, out with it,” Hank grumbled. He curled his toes against the wooden flooring he was standing on, mentally complaining about the cold.

“I have compiled three profiles for the people I identified as most likely to be involved. Should those come to nothing, I have three more I think are worth looking into as well.” Connor held out the laptop so Hank could take it off him.

“Yeah, thanks Big Brother,” he muttered as he took it off him.

The LED flashed yellow again and after a second Connor smiled. “I should hope I don’t really end up filling a role quite that Orwellian.” His features dropped into a more serious expression. “But I do apologise if there was a boundary I crossed earlier. After conducting some research, I can see what you were worried about is in fact far too common. I will try not to invade your privacy any more than absolutely necessary.”

Hank shrugged, a little surprised by the response. “Well, it’s like you said. There’s only a small team working with you and the data you collect, right? I’m sure I can put up with it until the end of the trial.”

He didn’t really know why he was trying to appease an android instead of encouraging it to do as suggested. Maybe it was the ‘socialisation’ at work. He got an appropriately pleased facial expression, at any rate.

“You have forty-nine unread emails, three of which I’ve moved to a personal folder since they seem unrelated to the work I am here to help you with. Would you like me to start categorising the messages you receive in the afternoon and over night?”

Hank guessed _this_ had been part of the agreement he hadn’t bothered to read, as well. He’d thought he would be able to get out of participating in the trial so he hadn’t looked at any of the documentation related to it yet.

“I’ll think about it,” he eventually replied.

“Very well. Good night, Lieutenant.”

Hank glanced over his shoulder briefly on his way back to his room. “Night.”

After he’d crawled into bed and logged into the computer again, Hank saw he now had fifty-one unread emails. One from Jeffrey asking if Connor was still in one piece. Another from Connor’s engineering team asking him for feedback and his first impressions.

Hank thought for a while, then folded out the keyboard and began to type.

* * *

_Tuesday, 10 April 2035_

Connor was still trying to determine where Hank’s boundaries were, so he hadn’t gone to wake him up in the morning. That had led them to rushing out the door and getting Cole to school just as it started. Hank had seemed less concerned about getting them to work on time, but they had arrived at a reasonable hour in the end. However, it seemed Hank had sacrificed his breakfast and morning coffee to do so.

Connor came to a halt next to where Hank was sitting at his desk and deposited a coffee and a paper bag on the desk in a spot it was unlikely to be accidentally knocked over. Hank glanced at the food, then looked up at Connor with a confused expression.

“Where’d you get that?”

Given the café was on the other side of the office floor, Connor decided what Hank was really asking was _how_ he had come to possess the items. “For the length of the trial I have access to a CyberLife account for small incidental expenses. Consider it a perk of helping along my development cycle.”

Hank snorted but picked up the coffee and took a sip. Connor had seen him order one yesterday, so he knew what he liked.

“Fucking suck up,” he muttered, though Connor didn’t feel it was really an insult. “Anyway, you going to show me more about these suspects?”

Connor nodded and bent over to place his hand on the computer tower. Communicating with another device was so much simpler than trying to coordinate speech, body language and facial expressions that could be interpreted subjectively no matter how long he practiced perfecting it.

Hank rolled over to a currently unused desk on his chair and brought another one back with him. Connor decided to take the offer and sit rather than explain it was unneeded. He didn’t feel fatigue in the same way as a person, but Hank was obviously just trying to help him fit into the space.

“First is Ryan Jenkins. Twenty-seven years old and recently completed his masters in information security. However, he’s unable to get a job despite the field still being one of the largest employers of human workers. He may have turned his attention to the manufacture and sale of red ice given the shrinking pool of other employment and self-employment options in Detroit.”

“And whaddya know? He still can’t get a break from being harassed by automation.”

In response to Hank’s comment, Connor felt the values in his programs shift to indicate the natural human response to being told something like that. It was not a good ‘feeling’, but he didn’t yet have enough data to determine a way to make it stop. Instead he decided to ignore the comment and continue with his presentation.

Connor brought up some of Jenkins’ clearer social media photos. “His online activity started to become suspicious last year when he deleted all of his photos, messages and posts from all of his social media accounts, though I managed to track these down due to the services’ data retention activities. I further tracked his activity to find him posting in more anonymous spaces, such as internet forums. Additionally, it isn’t impossible to find things like red ice recipes hiding out of plain sight in the deep web, beyond spaces that can be visually seen by a normal internet user.

“Even though his account information was deleted in most places, his social network is still intact. The primary source of my suspicion is the amount of known criminals he has interacted with, and possibly still does. But I believe we require a warrant to go any further on this. To check his phone, his home, and question other people he may know.”

When Hank realised he’d finished speaking he hurried to finish his mouthful of muffin. “Ok, but hanging out with criminals doesn’t necessarily mean he is one. You said there were three people you wanted to look into first, right? Is there any relation between them?”

Connor nodded and displayed another profile under the one he’d already started constructing for Jenkins. “You have already jailed several members of the street group called Harbinger. All of my suspects are familiar with the ringleader, who is still currently behind bars. They have all also admitted to making and trying harder substances at one point or another on their social media pages.”

Hank sighed and sat back in his chair a little further. “All right, I guess that’s enough to justify digging deeper. But how did you figure that out they all know the ringleader? I’m pretty sure he’s not dumb enough to maintain an online presence given his choice in activities.”

Connor brought up a visual representation of the social network he’d created from the data he’d been chewing through last night. “Each node represents what I believe to be an individual person. I used what I could glean to determine the strength of the relationship between each of them. The thicker lines and closer node placements indicate stronger relations. Given the amount of missing data, I did have to use some probabilistic functions on the outskirts of the diagram, but there is no doubt our main three all have a connection to the ringleader, and through him, each other.”

He could see from Hank’s expression that the three dimensional web wasn’t really increasing his comprehension of the calculations and algorithms Connor had run. “Guess I’m just going to have to take your word for it. If that’s good enough for Jeffrey, that is.”

“The other thing you should be aware of is that they all know someone who knows someone who knows you,” Connor cautioned. “Jenna Bailey, another of the three suspects I’ve identified, has an aunt who works in administration at the school Cole attends. I’d recommend ensuring both his teacher and the Jenny units know that only you and Cindy are permitted to pick him up from school.”

Connor noticed the discomfort flash across Hank’s face. He shifted and crumpled up the now empty paper bag before shaking his head. “The teachers are usually pretty good about that stuff. It was a pain in the ass the first time I had to get Cindy to pick Cole up from school, but it’s not that hard to see why it’s necessary.”

Someone behind them gave a frustrated sigh, so they both turned to look. Detective Gavin Reed was standing by the now chairless desk with his arms folded. He looked between Connor and Hank with a brow raised.

“Is this really the best use of department property?” he asked sarcastically.

“I didn’t mean to impose. It was not being utilised at the time,” Connor explained.

Hank glanced at him, looking mildly surprised. Connor didn’t usually bend the truth, but from today’s and yesterday’s events he was aware of the tension between the lieutenant and the detective. Connor didn’t want to be the reason it worsened.

Connor removed his hand from the computer tower and stood, turning the chair and pushing it back over to where it had been. Reed unfolded his arms but didn’t say anything further.

“All you have to do is communicate openly,” Hank commented dryly.

Reed turned his scowl on him, but seemed to reconsider his retort at the last moment. In the formal branch structure, Hank was his current supervisor and mentor, after all.

“If you could prevent your devices encroaching on my space, it would be much appreciated, Lieutenant,” he replied stiffly. Reed managed to make the use of polite language rude in itself, though perhaps that was mostly the insincerity in his tone.

Hank tilted his head, but simply turned back to Connor. “All right, you can go do whatever. I need to fill out a form justifying our need for these warrants and visits if we’re going to get anywhere in the next few days.”

“I can help with that, too,” Connor informed him. Perhaps it wasn’t obvious to Hank, but computational linguistics had come far in the last decade. It was the reason Connor could hold conversations with some nuance.

“Ok, you have a go at it, then I’ll review it before sending it to Jeffrey’s delegate,” Hank compromised. He opened up the document template for Connor before getting out of his seat. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he said as he held up his rubbish and made his way over the break room where there were bins and bathrooms.

Connor interpreted that as a hint for him to take his seat, so he sat and put his hand back on the computer tower. As Hank would soon discover, he would only need a minute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I ever accidentally get Cole and Connor's names mixed up, please tell me. Since they start with the same letters I keep typoing them, like, I will literally think 'Cole' and then type 'Connor'!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's pretend it hasn't been more than a month since this was last updated!

_After Lunch_

Cole sat hunched over his work with his tongue sticking out while he carefully and slowly traced the letters in his exercise book. Miss Jenny was walking around the classroom. Mark’s big brother had told them this meant she was gathering data to help work out their grades. Cole wondered if Connor did something like that when he entered a crime scene.

Cole glanced over at where Mark was sitting next to him. He looked bored, and his knee was bouncing. It was a bit annoying but Cole knew he couldn’t help it.

He returned to trying to concentrate on writing. He thought he was actually doing ok with this one. Just as he wrote the last word, Miss Jenny knelt down beside him. He looked at her and smiled, but felt nervous.

“Hello Cole, I saw how carefully you were working from across the room. I can see your effort is paying off! How do you feel about it?”

“Better,” he replied quietly.

“That’s great! If you keep up the good work, I know you’ll get really good by the end of the year.” Jenny’s light flashed yellow as she checked something. It took her a moment to think of what to say. “By the way, we got a message from your dad earlier today. Cindy is going to pick you up after school today. So please wait with me after the bell goes.”

“Ok!” Cole agreed happily.

He liked Cindy a lot. She was always happy and energetic. Right now she was in her first year of college, and she was so smart. She could fix or make anything electronic. Her dream was to work at CyberLife and make prototypes like Connor. Cole was sure she’d be excited to meet him.

Though, he hoped his dad and Connor wouldn’t get home too late. Cindy only picked him up when ‘something came up’.

Cole looked up at the clock and saw there was only ten minutes left until the end of school. He looked down at his writing exercise and erased one of the messier words and tried to write it again.

Cole did this a few more times before Mark nudged him. “Five, four, three…” he whispered as he stared up at the clock and counted down the seconds, “two, one!”

Cole laughed as the bell rang right on time. Mrs Mason clapped her hands to get the class’ attention. “Please make sure your name is on top of your paper before you hand it to Jenny!”

Cole took his time adding it. Cindy usually finished school around the same time, so it’d take her a little while to get to the primary school. He wasn’t in a rush.

“See you tomorrow, Cole!” Mark said as he returned to their desk and picked his bag up off the ground.

Cole smiled and waved goodbye, then watched his friend cross the room to where his mum was waiting near the classroom door. It made Cole think of his own mum. He hadn’t seen her in a long time. But Dad always took him over around his birthday.

Soon the classroom emptied again until it was just Cole, Miss Jenny and Mrs Mason. Jenny came over to collect his paper while Mrs Mason looked at the tablet computer. Mark’s older brother had told them that was where Jenny sent their grades, but Cole thought that was Mrs Mason’s decision in the end.

Cole was in the middle of putting his things away when he heard the squeak of sneakers against the linoleum floor. He turned to see Cindy in the usual bright purple hoodie, her cloud of hair bouncing along with her energetic steps.

“Cole! Sorry I’m late, sweetie!” she called across the room, before giving Mrs Mason a friendly nod and a hello.

“You’re not late!” Cole replied. Once he’d had to wait so long it had just been him and Jenny in the classroom when someone had finally gotten a chance to pick him up. It wasn’t a big deal though. Miss Jenny had just made him start on his homework.

Cole finished shoving his things in his bag before going to stand next to Cindy. “Ready to go?” she asked.

Cole glanced around the room one more time. Jenny’s light flickered yellow, then became blue again. He wondered if that was her favourite colour too.

“I’ve just sent Mr Anderson a message to confirm you’ve picked up Cole, Cindy,” Jenny explained. “I hope you all have a good evening.”

“Thanks Miss Jenny!” Cindy replied. Jenny had been in schools since Cindy had been in high school. “Until next time Mrs Mason!”

“Good night,” she replied. Cole waved to them both before following Cindy out of the classroom and going outside.

As soon as they were inside Cindy’s little automatic car, she immediately turned the front seat around so they could talk directly. “So! Give me all the goss’ on this prototype you’re housing!”

Cole laughed quietly. But it was fun to have someone to talk to who was as excited as he was about Connor. “Connor is so weird. I think you’ll like him.”

“What kind of weird? Like, how he talks and behaves around people? I need details, child!”

Cole just laughed softly again. “Well, the way he talks is funny…”

* * *

 

_Tuesday Night_

Hank pulled up in the driveway and wrenched up the handbrake before flopping back against his seat. “God I’m exhausted,” he muttered.

They’d ended up in a two hour meeting with Fowler, constantly being interrupted by reports on other cases of course, after Connor had been unable to clearly explain how he’d made the connection between the ringleader of Harbinger and their current prime suspects. Eventually they’d reached the conclusion that he’d used data from various locations to calculate the probability of the ringleader’s existence in their social circle. Until it could be cleared up, they’d been given permission to question them only.

“I’m sorry, it’s my fault,” Connor replied as he methodically removed his seatbelt. “I’ll include this issue in my report tonight. I suggest you put it in your feedback on my performance as well, so my team can prioritise working on a fix for this problem.”

Hank raised an eyebrow. “It’s Fowler’s job to question us when we come to him with a hunch. Our assumptions and instincts aren’t always right.”

“This wasn’t a ‘hunch’ in the way you know it. My algorithms were just working beyond a point I can adequately explain in words. That’s not really acceptable in a legal environment.”

Hank rolled his eyes and finally got the energy to climb out of his car. Much as he loved his child, he knew he was going to struggle getting him through the bedtime routine tonight. Hank barely had the energy to get through his own. Maybe he’d feel better after eating something.

He closed the car door and locked up before making his way over to the front door. Connor followed him closely, but didn’t say anything more. He opened up and soon spotted Cindy and Cole in the living room. Since Cole was in his pyjamas already, it seemed he’d been fed and bathed at least.

“And that’s how you pull apart the TV remote and turn it into a controller for the Roomba,” Cindy said loudly.

Hank was pretty sure that was just another of her jokes intended to make his hair fall out faster. At least, he couldn’t see the remote anywhere near her…

Cole pressed both his hands over his mouth in an attempt to restrain his laughter. “Cindy!”

“I don’t detect any traces of electrical interference,” Connor supplied, and Cole just laughed a little louder.

Hank couldn’t tell if he was trying to be sincere or if that was another one of his own little jokes. “Yes Connor, thank you,” he muttered as he turned to look over his shoulder.

Connor’s expression immediately gave him away. “You’re welcome, Hank.”

“This is Connor, Cindy. He’s the detective prototype!”

Now that they had all finished picking on him, Hank was glad to take the back seat in things. He moved over to the dining area and looked in the freezer for something to eat. He always made a few spare meals just in case he had to call poor Cindy out against her routine.

He glanced up when Cindy made a sudden noise of surprise. It seemed Connor had gone to introduce himself with a handshake, but Cindy was now poking his hand and staring intensely at the skin.

“Wait, wait, they’re working on a new polymer for the outer layer of skin? It feels so real it’s spooky! Did they have to do something to increase your running temperature so you didn’t feel like a dead body?”

“Are you interested in android construction methods, Cindy?” Connor asked, seemingly unbothered by the attention. For all Hank knew, his actual engineers handled him in much the same way.

“Yes! Definitely yes! I’ve applied for every round of the CyberLife internship that came up last year and this year, but it’s so hard to get in,” she lamented. “Put in a good word for me, ok?”

“I’m not sure I hold much sway over deciding things like that,” Connor replied diplomatically.

This only seemed to make Cindy smile all the wider. “Your social programming is such a step above what I’ve ever seen in a commercial android. How long have they been working on you?”

“While I appreciate your interest, I’m afraid I’m not allowed to provide details about my specifications outside of emergency situations.”

Hank noticed Cindy’s intense look of disappointment before he turned to put his food in the microwave. While he waited for it to cook, he dug his wallet out of his jeans pocket and hoped he’d remembered to get cash out recently. He still tried to avoid using his card and other electronic transfers as much as possible. People were tracked and profiled from those too.

He only had two fifties. A bit more than their agreed hourly rate would warrant for three hours of work, but she had responded to his last minute call as fast as she could. He took it out and tucked it into his hand before returning to the living room.

Cindy was closing her laptop and heading for the front door when Hank returned. It seemed she and Cole had already said their goodbyes, since Cole was now pointing at something on his own school computer while Connor looked on politely.

Hank followed her outside into the driveway. “Sorry for doing this to you again, it wasn’t even for a good reason this time,” he said quietly. He handed over the money, and Cindy split the notes apart with a frown.

“You need change again, or is your math getting that bad, old man?” she teased.

Hank automatically glanced over his shoulder to determine whether it was safe to give the answer he wanted. But Cole wasn’t in earshot. “No, shit head. Just keep it,” he insisted. “This is the third time in not even as many weeks.”

“Of all the gremlins I’ve ever babysat, he’s by far the least terrible. And also this is the only family to not replace me with an android…” Cindy narrowed her eyes at him in an expression of comically exaggerated suspicion.

Hank shook his head and smiled a little. “He’s a prototype,” he said emphatically. “I have to give it back. You’re safe, don’t worry.”

She smiled brightly before turning away to make her way over to her car. “Like you could get rid of me anyway. Besides, you’ll be the big five oh soon. I’ve got plans to make…”

“Great, now I’ll be dreading that for the rest of the year,” Hank replied. He leaned against the doorframe and folded his arms.

Cindy waved jauntily before climbing into her car. “Look forward to it!” she called before closing her door and letting the car pull away.

Hank waved and shook his head slightly. Once she was gone he went back inside and locked the front door behind him. Judging from the lack of noise, the microwave seemed to be done with his food.

He glanced at where Connor and Cole were still sitting on the couch as he passed. Connor was sitting as stiffly as ever, and they seemed to be speaking in French again. But Cole looked more engaged in their conversation this time.

He wasn’t sure what he was going to do once Cindy was snapped up by whatever tech company noticed her talent first. And when the android trial ended, he really wouldn’t have anything to fall back on.

Hank tried to change the track of his thoughts as he grabbed his dinner. They’d figure something out. They’d managed to get through the last four years, after all.


End file.
